ROCKFORD — The Rockford Park District pledged $6 million spread over 20 years Tuesday to expand its sports facilities and draw more athletes to town for tournaments and other competitions.

Commissioners voted unanimously to commit $300,000 a year for 20 years toward renovations at the Indoor Sports Center Complex in Loves Park. The money will help pay for up to $28 million in upgrades, including seven outdoor artificial turf fields for multi-sport use and three additional indoor artificial turf fields. The project would be paid for with $10 million in contributions from various municipalities, $9 million in hotel taxes and up to $3 million in grants, donations and revenue from the sale of naming rights for the facilities.

Commissioners also OK'd an intergovernmental agreement to participate in the Winnebago County Regional Tourism Facility Board. The board will be responsible for spending proceeds of higher local hotel taxes.

Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation Aug. 10 that allows Winnebago County to collect up to 2 percent more on hotel taxes, with the money going toward the regional sports tourism project called Reclaiming First.

Municipalities in Winnebago County now must vote to authorize the tax and participate in the tourism board. Winnebago County, Rockford, Loves Park, South Beloit, Cherry Valley and Machesney Park all plan to participate. Others could join in, too, Park District Executive Director Tim Dimke said. The Park District and Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau would be non-voting members of the board.

Reclaiming First is the name given to the proposal to renovate the former Ingersoll building in downtown Rockford into a riverside indoor sports complex and expand Sportscore Two in Loves Park. It's called Reclaiming First because it's meant to help the Rockford region recapture its place as a top destination for sports tournaments.

The improvements are expected to lead to $16.5 million in new private-sector income each year and $1.9 million in annual tax revenue, Park District officials said. It would support 210 construction jobs and 250 new, year-round full-time equivalent jobs, officials said.

The project will also benefit local families, Dimke said. He said there are somewhere between 500 and 700 traveling teams representing around 10,000 youth athletes in the Rockford area. They spend their money elsewhere when they go to out-of-town for tournaments and pay for hotels, food and other travel expenses.

"If we can hold several of the tournaments they travel to right here in town, they're getting major financial benefit out of that," Dimke said.